Apartment Musings

Long story short, we are living in an apartment. We thought the last one was the "last one", but I think this place was meant to be for us. We were looking at rental houses on Craigslist and came across this place. It's a big apartment complex in the middle of nothing kind of. Well there's houses and stuff around...I guess it's just not as congested and busy as where we were in the middle of downtown Gilbert. I really like being out of the center of town. Believe it or not, the shopping is much more convenient in this location. This place is a 3 bedroom, 1350 square foot apartment. We could probably easily be here a few years. You have to financially qualify for these units. They are super cheap. Our last apartment was dirt cheap as well. I just think we were meant to be here in a really cheap place again to continue getting out of debt (something that is happening within the next 2 years! WooHoo!) and get our affairs in order like that. Sharrid is getting ready to finish up his classes next month and then he can apply for the nursing program this summer...but then he has a 2 year wait before the 2 year program starts. Being in this place with all of that school and debt talk really makes perfect sense to me. That 2 years of no school is going to allow us a lot in terms of preparing for the future while living cheap. Overtime is still available at Sharrid's work and when he works it, it doesn't just make a little difference. We're talking about doubling paychecks. When the economy broke, we did a turn around. We really broke things down ourselves and stopped trying to run faster than we could. I didn't even realize we were trying to do that. From that time we have truly been living within our means and I know I've learned a lot about how to live life with what you got. We changed just about everything and turned everything upside down. We cut away every little extra thing, even Netflix for a long time. We still don't have cell phones. We cut our home phone and got it free from MagicJack. We went from house back to apartment. We changed a lot of things and it's all basically still the same but we are living within our means and we're happy. And we're patient and we know that if we stick this out right now, we'll have more choices later and be a little more free in the future. It's a different kind of free though. When we cut back, I felt much more free than I ever did, and I still do...but we still pay debt payments. You can never be totally free until you don't owe nobody. At least I feel like I am in control and that I can do that. I can take responsibility and pay what I owe. There's a big difference with owning up to things and being happy to do it, and worrying and be anxious about it. That's the difference between living within your means and not I guess. I like our place and I am still furnishing and putting it together and stuff like that but it's fun to see it coming along. We had Cox Internet with our previous apartment so we called to transfer service over here and they said that the previous tenants had not cut it off. We had to fax over our lease agreement to legally get it in our name and pay our bill which we did, but cable TV is still on...and I'm not complaining. Could it kick off any day? I guess, but it hasn't and I am enjoying NBA basketball! There's a big black dude down the way that has a little business on the side of whatever else he does you could say. He sets out a couple BBQ's and camping chairs outside his apartment and cooks up a storm. It's 5 bucks a plate and not bad. I just think it's pretty cute and funny the things that go on around here. Sharrid and I are always talking about having our own business. It's always a restaurant. We always talk about what we could offer and have on the menu because there are some things we make really well and that are different. Yesterday I was doing laundry, which is on site. I thought that situation was going to be a nightmare, but I actually like it. I love not wasting the space in my apartment on a washer and dryer that they stick in a closet in some really bad area. I love the fact that it's never noisy in here because a washer is not running. I love how I have yet to turn on my A/C because this place doesn't have a dryer heating everything up (The perfect sun exposure and hard floors help a lot too I think :)) Anyway, I was in the laundry room with this other little mexican girl. She had a laundry basket on wheels and I'm thinking "I need one of those." Let me just say I am sore today from the walking back and forth hefting a laundry basket full of clothes. I shouldn't do it because I'm big and pregnant, but it's hard because I CAN do it. So anyway, I ask this gal in there where she got her basket on wheels. She says "huh" and so I ask again. Then she just kind of looks at me funny and says something like "I don't know..." Got it. She doesn't speak English. Just then, I feel kind of dumb...but then I realize...she probably feels dumber than I do. Then I thought..."it'd be good to know Spanish." but it'd also be good for her and every other person in the country to know English. Sharrid has it made. He knows English and Spanish...and Portuguese. Trilingual. So, I never did find out where she got that basket. Almost every afternoon, the ice cream man drives through our complex. I haven't had "ice cream man" exposure since I was 7 years old living in Vegas. My friend used to buy me ice cream Snickers and fake cigarettes all the time. I thought it was so funny the first time I heard the music coming through our complex. Sharrid and I joked about going out there so the next time we heard him come through, Shar and I ran out there like two little kids! The boys chased after us and we all got something. This guy has everything. He has all the stuff I grew up on and more! It's really hard to choose! We've gotten stuff a few times now and we're loving it! Last time I got a Watermelon Bomb Pop. That thing was SO good. It was about 10 inches long and only a buck! I love watermelon flavored things but I don't like watermelon. This Popsicle was huge. It was green and pink and had little candy seeds in it...YUM! There's a Sonic right by our place and we've enjoyed happy hour very much on Saturday's when we're out and about! Everyone in the family gets a drink and our total is under 3 bucks! The boys love lemonade but Shar and I get slushies! I think I like the green apple the best but I haven't tried them all. IHOP is also really close and it's one of our favorite places to go eat as a family because you get a lot of food for real cheap, plus they have THE best pancakes I have ever tasted in my life. So...here's to apartment living anyway. We're having a good old time here!